


Magia Clash: Mitakihara's Golden Girl vs The White Devil

by leafbladie



Category: Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha | Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: Fights, Gen, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:41:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24700012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leafbladie/pseuds/leafbladie
Summary: Mere months after the Jewel Seed incident, Nanoha Takamachi received a request by the TSAB to look into a strange source of power they identified on Earth. During her investigation she comes across an imposing girl named Mami Tomoe, who asks her to leave or fight. Compelled by Mami's eyes that remind her so much of Fate, Nanoha decides to fight to help this girl.
Comments: 9
Kudos: 19





	Magia Clash: Mitakihara's Golden Girl vs The White Devil

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to joshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, Taba, unrestedjade, and Kyubox Incubox for helping me finalize this story.

“Mitakihara city…”

It felt so strange compared to her hometown of Uminari. Many of the buildings and structures here were built like an unholy mishmash between art and technology.

A glass elevator with an interactive holographic display, a fountain that used light to change the colors its spraying water shone with, among many other things. Even to Nanoha, someone with constant exposure to alien technology, this place felt more foreign to her than any of her previous experiences.

Well, maybe that was a bit of an overstatement. It still had buildings in shapes that would be considered made by humans. However, it felt so close to something made by humans; yet not quite close enough, invoking that uncanny feeling that was more upsetting than seeing something solely inhuman.

Though the citizens here seemed to treat it quite naturally. Maybe this feeling would fade if Nanoha did some sightseeing, and familiarized herself with this place. However, with her job here, it was unlikely she’d have the free time to do so.

If Fate had been here, she might have had an excuse to take her time on a date with her, but she was still with Chrono, Lindy, and Yuuno at her trial. They were still fighting hard so that Fate wouldn’t be punished, so she shouldn’t be slacking on her mission here.

“Wait, where am I?”

Nanoha had been wandering around lost in her thoughts for about a minute, so she was surprised to see she had somehow wandered down an alleyway. Any other city would likely have her turn her way back out of an alleyway, yet somehow even this place looked oddly inviting through its architecture.

‘Focus,’ Nanoha thought. This was a relatively simple mission, she should get it over with quickly so she would be back before dinner. Her mom said she was going to cook something and Nanoha didn’t want to miss that. ‘Wait, focus,’ Nanoha thought again.

A shiver ran up Nanoha’s spine; she could tell it wasn’t from the prospect of her mother's cooking. Something wicked was in the air, and it likely had to do with the mission she had received.

“Raising Heart, set up!"

Nanoha was surrounded in a bright pink light as her clothes disappeared, and her Barrier Jacket formed in place of them. Similarly, Raising Heart transformed from her compact Standby Form into her signature staff, ready to fight by her side against any evil that might appear.

Doubt began to creep up as she took in her surroundings again. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary. Could she have been wrong?

No, there was no way around it. She knew what she sensed, and she still sensed it now. As Nanoha took in her surroundings again, she caught a glimpse of a shimmer in the air. Looking closer, it seemed to widen, encompassing more space. Then another rip in space appeared behind her. Vibrant colors were bursting forth, contrasting greatly against the more monotone alleyway.

Soon though, Nanoha couldn’t even see said alleyway, as her environment morphed and shifted into something else. Nanoha stayed alert, ready for any sneak attack that might come her way. As the area around her completed its transformation, Nanoha saw that she was in a closed room made entirely of cotton. There were random decorations strewn everywhere, and those too were made of the white fluff. The only thing out of place was the door in front of her, which appeared to be made out of wood, just like a regular door.

“Raising Heart, do you know what’s going on?”

“It appears we have been brought into someone else’s barrier,” Raising Heart replied.

That seemed to be correct, as Nanoha took into account the space that had warped around her, but this barrier seemed quite different than her own. Having created a space entirely different than the one they had previously occupied.

She wasn’t equipped to answer that question though, so the best course of action was to leave this place. Nanoha opened the door in front of her and was greeted by a sight outside her comprehension.

A creature, and one that Nanoha couldn’t really ascribe to any one animal either. At first glance it appeared to be a sheep covered in wool. As she looked closer though, she saw things that didn’t fit. Fangs, claws, a more lanky tail. However, what really threw Nanoha off her guard was that it didn’t seem to belong in this world.

She had fought many monsters, but they all looked like things that physically existed. This creature on the other hand, it didn’t even look like it was made of flesh and blood. It invoked a similar uncanny effect as that of Mitakihara City.

The creature bared its teeth as it gave a guttural snarl.

“This barrier will prevent any damage to the area we were previously in, correct?”

“Yes, my master,” Raising Heart answered.

“Then I don’t need to hold back!”

***

The creature’s bark had been much worse than its bite Nanoha found as space began to warp back to normal around her. It had been about as difficult as the creatures created by the Jewel Seeds, and Nanoha was long past the point of fighting creatures of that caliber.

As the creature faded away, something that dropped from its body grabbed Nanoha’s attention. Stepping closer, she could see it was the item she had been sent out to find. A black orb with two needle-like protrusions on opposite ends.

Nanoha could feel a strange energy contained within it. One that could undoubtedly be used to create great harm if abused maliciously.

_Clack. Clack. Clack._

The sounds of school shoes against the pavement brought Nanoha away from her thoughts and to the view of a blonde haired girl with a cheery smile.

“You can take the Grief Seed if you like, but please leave this city now.”

The disconnect between the girl’s expression and her words caused Nanoha to tense up slightly, which she chided herself for. Even if this girl had powers, she was clearly in civilian mode. But despite that, the girl exuded a sense of experience and maturity that had been missing from most of the adults she had interacted with. One that Nanoha couldn’t help but be wary of.

“Who are you?”

“Mami Tomoe, resident Magical Girl of Mitakihara City. I don’t appreciate other Magical Girls strolling through my territory, but I’m willing to overlook this as just an honest mistake if you leave now.”

Nanoha couldn’t leave though. This girl seemed to know about this Grief Seed she had been assigned to learn about. What’s more, Nanoha could see the loneliness in her eyes, it reminded her so much of Fate.

“I’m Nanoha Takamachi. I’m afraid I can’t leave. Please, let’s talk about this,” Nanoha requested.

“There’s nothing to talk about, if you want to keep operating here you’ll have to take Mitakihara from me,” Mami said with a snap of her fingers, “but I don’t see that happening.”

Nanoha opened her mouth to respond, only to be cut off by a flash of yellow next to her face. By the time she noticed it, it was too late, the shining yellow light illuminated her front and sides in the dark alleyway. Their brightness was so overwhelming that Nanoha could barely make out the fact that they were not one continuous stream of light. But rather, separate threads of what appeared to be ribbons.

Nanoha flew back in a desperate attempt to escape the ribbons, but they had already formed a tunnel that stretched far behind her and were closing in. Nanoha didn’t understand how this had happened. There were no runes, no signs of device usage, yet somehow Mami had used a binding spell on her with a simple snap of her fingers.

The ribbons were mere centimeters from constricting her body, and Nanoha knew her binding was all but inevitable. As they pressed down upon her body, attempting to halt her flight backwards, Nanoha received a welcome surprise as the bindings were deflected by the spells that made up her Barrier Jacket.

Nanoha increased her velocity backwards, escaping the tunnel of ribbons, and breathed a sigh of relief, only to be greeted by a bullet flying straight at her. Nanoha was unable to increase her speed further or even change her direction because of the alleyway. An ascent upwards would be impossible flying backwards like this as well.

Nanoha couldn’t help but close her eyes in the face of the inevitable. The bullet made contact for the briefest of moments, then whizzed on by. It had only been a light graze, not even as deep as a paper cut. Had it not been for the trail of warm blood slowly trickling down Nanoha’s cheek, she would’ve questioned if she’d even been hit.

“That was a warning shot. If you understand our difference in experience, then please leave now.”

Nanoha’s nerves tensed up as she took in the sight before her. Mami had put her on the defensive right from the start, and what’s more she hadn’t even noticed her transformation into her Magical Armor. In contrast to Nanoha’s, her outfit appeared lighter, like Fate’s. She most likely fought similarly too, relying on her speed to overwhelm the opponent; discarding the ability to take a hit in favor of not getting hit.

A part of Nanoha told her she should leave. But that look in Mami’s eyes compelled her to stay.

Nanoha reached Raising Heart out in front of her, summoning a Temporal Space Field to cover the area they were in.

Mami seemed a bit confused by the changes as she took in her new surroundings, so Nanoha decided to explain.

“I know that sometimes clashing is unavoidable, so I made this barrier so we can let it all out. I hope we can truly talk to one another after this.”

“That sounds agreeable,” Mami said, “but I’ll warn you now, I could never lose.”

***

This young girl had been rather impertinent. Waltzing through another Magical Girl’s territory as if she owned the place. Given her younger age, Mami would have chalked it up to her inexperience any other day of the week, but she had seen the way she handily dealt with that Witch. There was no way this girl was new to this role. She was at least as strong as Kyoko.

As Mami sized up Nanoha, she couldn’t help but wonder how she had escaped her storm of ribbons. Her ribbons had aided her well in fending off many upstart Magical Girls from taking her territory with nary a bullet fired.

Her ribbons had weak shear strength, so she could understand if Nanoha had cut them with some type of bladed weapon. However, her staff seemed to offer no such utility; what’s more, Mami could tell her ribbons had been repelled by some type of magic.

Mami couldn’t see how she had used her magic to do so, but she’d used it in such a brief period of time that catching her off guard was an unlikely scenario. Especially now that she would be expecting it. A shame, her ribbons would have ended this conflict much faster for her and Nanoha.

The safe move would be to keep the current distance between them and figure a strategy from there. Mami summoned a volley of muskets and took aim at Nanoha.

“Divine Shooter!” Nanoha cried. Five spheres of light formed before her, then shot forth as beams of light. As her bullets met with the beams, the former were instantly vaporized.

Mami suppressed her shock at the sight and pirouetted into a back-flip over the beams. Expecting them to fly off beneath her, Mami was further surprised to see them curve up to follow her.

‘A homing attack?’

Thinking quickly Mami summoned another volley of guns, only for them to be hit by the lasers and explode beneath her.

The force sent Mami flying further back, but it had achieved what she wanted, as she saw the beams of light fly high into the air and dissipate. Mami’s feet hit the ground as she skidded to a halt.

Nanoha didn’t let Mami regain her composure as she flew at her full force. Mami was ready though, and summoned a gun from her sleeve the instant before Nanoha reached her. With a breakneck upswing, Mami’s musket struck the tip of Raising Heart, sending her spinning high into the air.

“Raising Heart!” Nanoha cried, unable to stop her forward momentum. She crashed into Mami, who intercepted Nanoha’s hands with her own. The two now locked palm to palm, as Nanoha pushed Mami back, her speed threatening to snap Mami’s legs out from under her.

Mami summoned further rows upon rows of muskets around her and Nanoha. She fired, only to be disappointed as she saw bullet after bullet bounce right off of Nanoha’s vest. Not letting herself be discouraged though, she continued to fire without relent, until the gunsmoke made it impossible to even see her foe. But she knew it wasn’t over, as she could feel Nanoha continue to push her back and into the ground.

They had been pushed out of the alleyway and into the vacant streets of the city. Suddenly, the force on Mami relented, and the smoke cleared, with Nanoha nowhere to be seen.

Mami looked all around her, but couldn’t find a single trace of Nanoha. She had used the gun smoke as a cover to escape her sight. What’s worse, it seemed it had done nothing to damage her.

A voice rang from above.

“Divine…” Mami finally located who she was searching for, and was further shocked to see her flying above the city rooftops, Raising Heart back in her hands. “Buster!”

A beam larger than the previous ones fired forth. With hardly a moment to spare, Mami summoned a wall of ribbons to intercept the attack. The beam bored itself at least halfway through the wall upon impact, incinerating layer after layer of ribbons. Mami made more threads to further reinforce her wall, but it was apparent to her that this was a losing battle.

Mami changed course and refocused her ribbon wall into a v-shape in front of her. The attack split along its vertex, and slid against both sides of the wall past her. Rather than facing it head on, it would be easier to try and move with it. Though this proved to be a double-edged sword.

As Mami focused on further reinforcing the focal point of her wall, the two sides became more and more scorched by Nanoh’s attack, and eventually let way earlier than she had wanted.

The split attack hit the ground, detonating to her left and right. The smoke billowing up was so thick Mami couldn’t see even a single centimeter in front of her. Hell, she could hardly believe she was alive. Her clothes had several tears and rips in them from the debris that had been kicked up around her. Taking a single step forward, Mami paused as she realized her foot was not landing on solid ground, or well, any ground at all.

Forming a line of ribbon with her magic, Mami unspooled it like a tape measure to find the distance between the patch of ground she stood upon and the nearest bit of even road. Mami was getting increasingly worried the longer it moved out, and could hardly hold her shock as her ribbon finally reached level ground.

‘Over ten meters!’ Mami gulped.

This girl had left a crater in the road with a radius of over 10 meters.

‘I need to know how far out the smoke cloud reaches.’

Mami shot another ribbon with much greater velocity, clearing her first in a fraction of the time. Finally, at a distance of thirty meters out, she could feel it be vaporized instantaneously by Nanoha’s attack. What’s more, the attack had come from above.

Mami could hardly believe that either. Mami had thought such a large attack might drain her. That had to have been at least as powerful as her Tiro Finale, and Mami had to train for years to get that attack to consume a reasonable amount of energy to make it useful outside of finishing blows.

Yet somehow this girl was still aloft in the air and able to fire attacks at full power. This girl either had more experience than her appearance let on, or was one of those irregularities Kyubey had talked about. This was going to be an uphill battle. Mami wasn’t sure she could win it. If that last attack had hit her…

Mami felt a strong vibration. Looking down, she only saw her hands… shaking.

‘No, if I start thinking like that, I’ll have already lost. I have to think about what advantages I have over her.’

If Nanoha had more experience than Mami, she knew this battle would have been settled already. So she was going to have to fight smarter, not harder, if she wanted to win. The smoke was starting to clear, like a ticking clock pressuring her to formulate a plan before it blared out its alarm.

Diplomacy was out of the question. Not only had she rejected it earlier, Mami couldn’t handle being betrayed and lied to again. Every time she had relented to other Magical Girls, tried to hear them out, and worked with them, they had gone against her wishes. They abandoned their duty of fighting familiars for their own interests, and there was no guarantee this girl wouldn’t do the same. She’d need to end this fight on her own terms.

‘Think! There must be some way to defeat her!’

The smoke began to lighten around her, she only had so long to come up with a strategy before it cleared entirely.

‘That staff seems unique. It was even able to talk. If I remove it from her grasp, I don’t think she’ll be able to summon another one, like I’m able to with my muskets. In addition, despite her great strength and speed, her actual physical combat seemed rather basic, and she seems to favor long range attacks. I need to close the distance and make sure it stays close.’

This would be a big risk though. With the lesser distance, she wouldn’t have nearly as much time to dodge. One mistake, and Mami might be dead before she even realized it. However, the war of attrition was definitely off the table. She needed to end this quickly.

‘Finally, I need to deal with that, how she repelled my ribbons. They’re my best bet for incapacitating her.’

Their earlier clash had given her a hint how she’d done it. But most of Mami’s plan she realized was based on assumptions. If even one of them were wrong, it would most certainly spell her defeat. However, she didn’t have time to question it further, it was either this or nothing.

The last billows of smoke finally cleared away, and Mami was ready to face this fight head on.

***

Nanoha was a bit taken back. This had been one of the strangest fights she had been in since she became a mage. Granted, she had started just shy of a year ago, but she’d seen her fair share of combat and saved her city from multiple threats.

Mami’s magical versatility was certainly no joke. That binding spell at the beginning of the fight would most certainly have caught her if her Barrier Jacket failed to repel it. Whenever Nanoha went on the offensive, Mami seemed to have an optimal response. Whether by using her weapons to intercept her homing attacks, knocking Raising Heart from her hands with a perfectly timed swing, pelting her with a barrage of bullets while she rushed her down, and then modifying her barrier to prevent her attack from consuming her.

But in spite of all those brilliant maneuvers, Nanoha could feel the desperation in each and every one of them.

‘This girl’s experience, is it not that of a mage who has honed their craft to perfection? But rather of someone who has survived many years of combat through any means necessary?’

Nanoha had been going all out because she had assumed the former. But if it was the latter, Nanoha feared she might seriously harm Mami if she continued at this rate. Even if her attacks were non-lethal, mana damage could lead to major physical consequences if used to great effect.

While Mami’s reflexes and instincts were on a higher level than her own and likely even Fate’s as well, her overall mana output appeared weaker than them both. This was a bad combination for Nanoha, as her focus on making her attacks non-lethal could be the difference between her hitting Mami or not. But it could also be the difference between Mami needing a week in the hospital and… 

Nanoha didn’t want to finish that thought, but Mami’s latest strategy with her ribbons (which she had completely fallen for as much as she hated to admit it), all but confirmed this theory to Nanoha. This caution was a level reserved for someone who couldn’t afford a single mistake.

As the smoke finally began to dissipate, Nanoha felt she should make a slight adjustment to her level of force. Nanoha compressed her mana into the form of a bullet in front of her, and with the first sight of yellow, she made her move.

“Shoot Bullet!” Nanoha yelled.

Nanoha’s magic burst forth, right on target to hit Mami. ‘Bullet’ was her weakest spell, but she didn’t need to exert nearly as much effort for a non-lethal variant, making it faster to fire in comparison. This made it all the more surprising when Mami dodged it with a slight lean to the left, not the least bit fazed.

Nanoha shot another bullet which Mami dodged again with a slight lean in the opposite direction. Not even fully looking at her.

Nanoha was a kind girl, but even she was a bit annoyed by Mami’s attitude. She decided to fire the next one at her legs to force Mami to move. With a small leap to the left, Mami avoided Nanoha’s attack without issue.

‘Maybe I’m going a bit too easy?’ Nanoha thought.

She decided to do a more rapid firing of her bullet spell. Mami continued to effortlessly dodge Nanoha’s attacks with acrobatic flips and somersaults. But this was all according to her plan.

As Mami settled into her rhythm of dodging, Nanoha formed a stronger variant of her bullet spell with her other hand and continued to lead her prey into the trap. Using her rapid fire bullet spells she had been pushing Mami further and further towards the building walls, and knowing her path, Nanoha fired her charged spell to intercept Mami as she was about to land from a flip. But Mami never touched the ground, having used a ribbon to swing upwards from a street light.

Nanoha continued her barrage of bullet spells to try and shoot Mami down. But even as the distance closed between them, and Nanoha was sure the next volley would pick Mami out of the sky, the blonde would just shoot a ribbon to pull herself out of harm’s way at the last second.

‘Wait, she’s closing the distance?’ Nanoha thought.

This was rather surprising given their clear difference in power. She assumed Mami would want the extra room to keep dodging her attacks, but it seemed she was pressing to go on the offensive.

Nanoha continued to fire her spell as Mami maneuvered between her attacks with the grace and elegance of a ballerina. Anytime Nanoha thought she had Mami cornered, she’d fire a ribbon from her arm, front, or even her back, to pull her out of danger. She continued to swing up and forward, eventually coming within ten meters of Nanoha.

Nanoha was hovering slightly above building level, thinking any further up would just give Mami more time to dodge her attacks. But that had left her within Mami’s reach. She considered flying further up before a realization struck.

***

Mami’s plan hadn’t been in vain. She was worried about a possible homing attack hitting her as she swung up, but they hadn’t come. Now within just a few meters of Nanoha, she’d be able to strike a deciding blow.

Mami’s ribbon pulled her to the top corner of a building. She gathered her magic in her legs for when she landed.

“Flawless Legs of Gold”

Mami’s legs propelled her forth with the power of her own muskets by expelling that force against the top corner of the building, which crumpled beneath her. Mami wasn’t just flying straight at Nanoha, she had also given her legs a slight twist as she launched forth, causing her to spin faster and faster as she closed in on Nanoha.

Even while spinning Mami could see Nanoha raise her weapon, and knew she had realized the greatest weakness in her plan. With no walls to latch onto immediately available to her, she was a sitting... flying duck in the air.

Thankfully Mami had planned for this eventuality, and summoned her musket. Timing it carefully, she fired just as Nanoha did. The force of the bullet fired to the left caused her to move ever so slightly in the opposite direction.

Nanoha’s attack still hit her though, skimming the side of her waist and taking a sizable chunk of flesh with it; causing Mami to rotate even faster. The smell of searing skin was overpowering, made worse as she felt lightheaded from the increased centrifugal accelerations, but Mami grinned and beared it.

Nanoha’s shock at this maneuver combined with Mami’s increased speed left her wide open, as the latter finally unleashed her attack.

“Flawless Legs of Gold - Finale!”

Focusing the power of her Tiro Finale into her right leg, Mami delivered a spinning wheel kick into Nanoha’s side. At this close range, it should have been over, but Mami could feel a strong resistance preventing the full force of her attack from coming through.

With Nanoha unable to focus her magic on flying, both she and Mami fell to the ground, Mami’s shin still firmly pressed into Nanoha’s ribcage. Mami continued to pour more magic into her leg to try and overpower Nanoha’s magic, but it became obvious this wasn’t going to work. Her legging began to smolder from all the energy she was collecting there, and eventually caught fire.

Now worried about her wardrobe malfunction, Mami couldn’t help but think about how Nanoha’s outfit had nary a scratch on it. That’s when she realized the truth, right as her leg exploded.

The explosion unstuck the two, sending Nanoha careening into the ground head first without a moment to react. Mami meanwhile had been shot upwards, giving her more time to land properly.

As Nanoha crashed into the ground, leaving a small crater where she landed, Mami fired a bullet at the ground, causing her to slow her descent again with a bit of upward momentum. With outstretched hands, she finally touched the ground for just an instant, before using her hands as springs to flip herself upright.

She then summoned her musket one last time as she landed on her left foot and used it as a crutch to steady herself.

Her right leg was so mangled by her reckless attack that it couldn’t even reach the floor. If Mami wasn’t suppressing the pain, there was no doubt she’d be crumpled over. Unable to even think about walking, let alone fighting.

She wondered if it was over. Considering the speed at which she hit the ground, that attack should have knocked her out at the very least.

Of course though, life would never be that easy on her. As Nanoha stood up from the crater, looking no worse for wear.

It was no bother though, Mami still had a plan. She’d chide any student of hers who would replicate this suicidal fighting style, of allowing yourself to be hurt because you can’t feel the pain, but she could think of no other way to win this fight.

***

Despite Mami’s attacks containing a noticeable level of grace to them, Nanoha couldn’t help but be reminded of a cornered animal. Prey are weaker than predators, and often because of this, they take the choice of flight over fight. But when running became impossible, and with nothing left to lose, it was not uncommon for these cornered animals to gain an immense strength to fight off their attacker. Risking life and limb to do so.

As she raised herself up from the crater and caught view of Mami’s right leg, the sight was almost too much for her to bear. Mami’s leg was covered in first to third degree burns, with the most intense burns clearly indicating the point of contact it made with Nanoha’s now broken ribs.

Nanoha’s wince turned to surprise as she saw a soft flowery glow surrounding Mami’s leg. The burns started to lessen in severity, as her right leg spasmed back into a functioning state.

“Healing magic?!” Nanoha questioned aloud.

“I’m guessing you don’t have any.” Mami replied.

Nanoha kept her mouth shut, realizing her mistake.

“I’ll give you a fair bit of warning because of your slip up. Don’t take to the skies, unless you’re ready to be flayed by my ribbons.”

Nanoha gazed up and saw the light of the sun reflected in various spots off the shining threads overhead.

‘When had she-’

Realization struck. The ribbons were in the areas Mami had been as she leaped from building to building in pursuit of her. Mami had thought even farther ahead than she realized, and Nanoha had been too complacent. She thought she could escape by the air whenever she needed, and now Mami had cut her biggest advantage off from her.

Nanoha’s sight returned to the ground, only to be greeted by a flash of yellow in front of her.

“When fighting, you should be wary not to take your eyes off your opponent!” Mami chided.

Mami struck the butt of her gun at Nanoha’s face, with Nanoha barely bringing Raising Heart forth to block it, stopping it mere centimeters from striking the left side of her head.

‘Why did she close the distance? Doesn’t she use guns?’

Nanoha doubled up, feeling a sharp pain in the side where her barrier jacket was damaged, before being knocked back diagonally. As Nanoha flew head first, she could see Mami’s foot return to the ground with seamless grace.

It made sense now, her versatility in close range combat exceeded hers, so she was taking this up close and personal, even if it meant less time to dodge her attacks. Nanoha took aim with Raising Heart and fired while still in mid air. But Mami had already closed the distance and pushed Raising Heart aside with one hand before she even realized it. Nanoha’s beam sliced straight through a building, causing its top half to fall and crash into the building next to it.

Since Nanoha hadn’t anchored herself with her magic before firing her attack, she flew back from Mami’s grasp at an increased velocity. Mami fired her musket’s bullet at Nanoha, but a slight tilt of her head let it whizz on by into the building behind her.

Nanoha’s feet hit the ground unsteadily, but she kept her balance. She had no choice, Mami would punish her further if she gave her a single opportunity to do so. Unfortunately, the time needed to steady herself was already being capitalized upon by Mami, who had closed the distance yet again.

Mami’s strikes were unpredictable. Kicking with her legs, swinging with her guns, combined with her spins for good measure, Nanoha could never tell right where the next attack would come from until it was about to hit her. She owed her continued resistance to her brother and sister, who taught her Kendo, but that was barely enough to put up a defensive front.

The close quarters combat also proved doubly detrimental for Nanoha’s attacks. Due to Mami’s closeness to her, she had no room to maneuver Raising Heart to fire an attack at her assailant. Anytime she made a sudden move back to do so, Mami was prepared to push, kick, or hit Raising Heart out of the way. Her beams had cut through several buildings and left long gashes in the road beneath them. But they hadn’t come within half a meter of Mami’s body.

Mami had been constantly pushing her back, and soon her back would literally be against the wall. She had to press back while she still could.

With a kick from Mami to Nanoha’s right, she did the unexpected and abandoned her Kendo stance. Pulling her right arm aside to block Mami’s attack, Nanoha extended her left arm to the side and twisted her wrist to angle Raising Heart at Mami.

But as she fired, Mami bent her entire lower body back, playing limbo with the deadliest limbo stick in existence. Nanoha didn’t even notice the two muskets she summoned from her skirt, until the bullets hit her square in the chest, knocking the wind out of her.

But Mami didn’t let her get knocked back too far, summoning a ribbon that ensnared her wrist beneath her Barrier Jacket. Nanoha felt like a ragdoll as her initial momentum backwards, and the force Mami exerted with her ribbon in the opposite direction, caused her limbs to fly in every direction.

Nanoha heard a pop. Her left shoulder had been dislocated. Before she could even register that pain though, a sharp kick from Mami to her forearm was met with a resounding crunch, as her leg exploded upon contact again.

The pain of it all caused time to move in slow motion to Nanoha. From her now useless left arm releasing Raising Heart from its grasp, to Mami’s leg leaving the smoke cloud surrounding her arm, healed up as if nothing had happened. And though she couldn’t hear it, she could tell she was screaming as tears welled up in her eyes.

Her scream escaped her lips with greater velocity than Mami's kick to her arm. The pitch and volume of the cry was filled with the ferocity of a wounded animal, causing Mami's primal instincts to take over, and jump back in fear of Nanoha's possible retaliation.

Nanoha’s right arm shot forth, grabbing Raising Heart before she hit the ground, as she fired an attack without anchoring herself with her magic. She hadn’t intended to do so, but this ended up working out better for her, as the force of her attack caused her to rocket back with an intense speed.

With this, she could escape Mami’s assault, she could escape the ribbons that lay overhead, she could fly high into the sky and-

Nanoha’s train of thought and momentum backwards came to a simultaneous screeching stop. An invisible force pulled hard on her left arm. Looking in the direction of it, Nanoha could see a thin thread between her hand and the bullet hole Mami had left in the building just a minute ago.

‘She had planned this far ahead?’

As Nanoha gazed at Mami in utter disbelief, she could see her grip her hand tight in the air. With that command, the ribbons suspended in the air descended upon Nanoha, sneaking underneath her Barrier Jacket all across her body, all while pulling her into the sky.

She had reached where she had desired to be, though this was not how she wished to return.

***

Mami’s hands shook, this time trembling in relief and not just panic. She had achieved it. Nanoha was now strung up in the sky. Unfortunately she hadn’t been able to bind her arms and legs together due to her outfit’s special properties. But with this many ribbons tethered between her limbs and the buildings, Mami had no doubt Nanoha would be unable to escape.

“Please, let’s just ta-”

“No!” Mami interjected, “you’re too dangerous to stay alive. To have this much power, how many girls must you have fought, how many Grief Seeds do you have to burn?”

Nanoha’s look of bewilderment was lost on Mami.

“If I let you go, what’s to stop you from just killing me?”

“I- I wouldn’t do that!” Nanoha cried out,

“I have no reason to trust your word. You refused to leave my city earlier. Your attacks were more than enough to kill me twice over. Why should I trust that you care about my safety.”

Nanoha’s head hung low, entirely dejected.

Mami did much the same, as she wondered what she was truly going to do. She hadn’t even thought of the words she had just said. Just not wanting Nanoha to take control of even a conversation in this fight.

Was she really going to kill this girl? She had been in fights with several Magical Girls before, and even when they fought to kill her, she never sought to kill them. But the difference here was obvious, none of them were stronger than her. If she let them go, they might try again, but Mami knew the results would be no different. This girl was stronger than her, it wasn’t even a contest. She would never use the levels of attacks she used here against other Magical Girls, some she wouldn’t even think to use on a Witch itself. If Nanoha gained even more experience- no, just the knowledge of Mami’s magic arsenal would be more than enough.

Mami let out a breath of air she hadn’t even known she’d been holding. Her decision was clear.

Channeling her magic, she summoned rows upon rows of muskets. Numbering in the hundreds they thoroughly littered the sky. With a swing of her arm, they fired in sequence, their combined light burning as bright as the sun.

As the hail of bullets descended upon Nanoha, she could only tense up, to endure the pain as they pelted at her body, ricocheting in every direction. Mami summoned her ribbons as a shield to protect herself from any stray bullets that might take aim at her.

The sparks and smoke from the bullets raining down upon Nanoha blocked her from Mami’s vision. But still, the bullets kept hitting their mark. Finally, the last of her guns fired, the storm of bullets subsided, and the smoke cleared.

Mami felt it wouldn’t be enough, but it still hurt to see Nanoha up in the sky, her outfit shredded, but not looking much worse for wear. What’s worse, with the way her bullets had ricocheted, several of her threads had been frayed or outright severed.

With her right arm, Nanoha made a punching motion while shouting, “Bind break!”

With that motion she tore through most of the ribbons still attached to her, even pulling chunks of wall, to which a few stubborn ribbons were tethered, straight out of the buildings. She then took aim at Mami’s blast shield, with intent to pierce right through it.

Had this all been for nothing but a damaged outfit?

‘Wait, her outfit’s damaged?’

Her despair had temporarily blinded her to the truth that she had already achieved what she needed to. With that, her final course of action became clear.

***

Nanoha had taken aim at the ribbon blast shield, ready to tear through it with her attack, only for it to dissipate before she could.

This confused Nanoha greatly, but not wanting to lose this chance, Nanoha cast a binding spell to ensnare Mami’s leg.

Mami’s agility and acrobatics had been her greatest asset in this fight. With those sealed, maybe she’d finally stop and listen to her.

“I see you’ve caught me,” Mami replied coolly, “but that isn’t going to stop me.”

With that, she summoned a gigantic cannon in front of her and prepared a great deal of magical energy.

“I’m going to end this with my next attack!”

Nanoha’s confusion grew even further. It was clear Mami had been weaker than her, why would she think she could overpower her now?

Still, those eyes, those lonely eyes, they shined with such a confidence that Nanoha had no choice but to believe her.

“Gather, shimmer of stars!” Nanoha gathered all the energy that had been expended during their fight into an orb beneath her. For some reason, it was much less than what she expected, about half in fact. Why wasn’t she able to collect the mana Mami had expended?

It might just be the case that Mami had found a way to gather her own mana before Nanoha tried to. Her bag of tricks during this fight certainly left that as a possibility in Nanoha’s mind. But the idea that she had performed mana conversion on such a wide scale without a device or some kind of identifiable trigger left her doubtful.

The other possibility, which seemed ludicrous to even entertain, was that Mami did not actually use mana. While many of her techniques were certainly replicable with advanced spell design, the sheer quantity of such specialized high level spells would require more time than she had even lived on this Earth. Just what was Mami?

As she looked upon Mami for an answer, her confident eyes still gleaming, Nanoha couldn’t help but see it as a facade. Not to hide her lack of strength, but the loneliness she had seen in her. She could tell she fought with a great sense of pride, but during this fight, her moves betrayed her desperation to win, to survive on her own.

Had Nanoha’s strength frightened her? Was she making a mistake as she prepared her final attack.

No. Mami needed to be truly overwhelmed, to have her spirit crushed. Unless she did that, she would be unable to shatter whatever had hardened Mami’s heart so completely. Only then could she be convinced that her mistrust was not needed.

Her heart resolved, she focused her own mana into her Starlight Breaker.

Though Mami looked straight up at Nanoha, she tried to keep her mind from thinking about her. Seeing the only thing in her line of sight, her Tiro Finale Cannon, she couldn’t help but think how it reflected her. A strong imposing figure that was crafted from weak ribbons.

These ribbons, no matter how she molded and reshaped them, they were still the same as they’ve always been. She used them to ensnare those who opposed her, who opposed what’s right. Though she knew the truth, they were just chains that tethered her to the ground, shackles that she repurposed into her weapons for this life. She may swing around this city with them, but eventually she will return to the ground, back to her cell. A life of penance for the mistake of a young and stupid girl.

That girl, she flies so freely in the sky. Is it because nothing weighs on her heart as it did on hers? Or…

Mami shook her head. This was exactly what she wanted to avoid, these thoughts would get her nowhere.

Mami and Nanoha felt their attacks reach the apex of their powers, both ready to end this fight once and for all.

“Tiro Finale!”

“Starlight Breaker!”

The attacks exploded forth from their masters’ weapons with a thunderous roar. The glow of pink and yellow complementing the setting sun behind them. Barreling forth towards one another for an imminent clash in the sky that never came to be.

Nanoha gasped in surprise as Mami looked up in resignation. The projectiles had passed each other with nary a graze between them, and were on target to hit the Magical Girls instead.

Nanoha released Mami’s bind as she flew back. But with her mana all but spent, she could do nothing but shield herself with her arms as the attack consumed her.

The releasing of the bind had done nothing for Mami. As _she_ crumpled to the ground, looking upon the brilliant pink beam in awe and terror. It incinerated _her_ in but an instant, leaving not a single trace of the weak ribbons that comprised _her_ behind.

Everything had gone according to plan, Mami had won.

***

The explosion in the sky brought forth a large cloud of smoke, from which Nanoha’s spewed forth like a baseball out of a pitching machine. Falling towards the ground like a meteorite, she crashed into the asphalt for the second time today, leaving a crater at least twice the size of her last.

The wind knocked entirely out of her body, Nanoha couldn’t even wheeze or cry out in pain, despite it consuming her entire body.

Her arms scorched, her ears ringing, her back sore in spots she didn’t even know she had. She was alive, but she could not say the same for Mami. She had released her bind spell in the hope that Mami would be able to escape, but as she fell from the sky, she clearly saw her silhouette evaporate away within her Starlight Breaker.

She hadn’t fired a non-lethal variant. She had been prepared to help her for as long as she needed should she suffer from any physical or mental damage from her attack, as an apology to her. But it seemed there was no way she would be able to hear it now.

Nanoha felt a great pain in her heart. Had she truly been unable to save her? Despite all her efforts?

Nanoha had trusted the confident look in Mami's eyes. Had she been mistaken? Was it not of someone resolute in their path to victory, but rather that of someone accepting of their own demise? Why had she trusted someone who had been through so much pain? Who would be willing to let it all go if they had an excuse to do so?

_Clack. Clack. Clack._

Nanoha was broken away from her thoughts as the ringing in her ears cleared, and the familiar clicking of heels came into sound. Nanoha’s hope pushed her sadness away as she craned her neck back to see the edge of the crater behind her.

Mami came into view at the edge of the crater, not a scratch to be seen on her. She jumped down and slid towards Nanoha, her rifle at the ready.

“Mami! You’re okay!” Nanoha cried, relieved.

Mami stopped on a dime at the zenith of the crater, her expression confused. Tears began to form in her eyes as she fully processed what Nanoha said. Why was she expressing concern over her wellbeing?

“Wh-what are you saying? You can’t trick me! You just want my territory! You were willing to kill me over it!” Mami claimed.

“I didn’t... want to fight you, and I… certainly didn’t want to kill you,” Nanoha spat out between labored breaths, “in fact, I wanted to help you… you seemed so alone.”

Mami felt a conflict inside herself. Her desire to be saved by someone from her loneliness, but also her desire to not be hurt by someone again. It tore and ravaged through Mami’s mind, and then her body as she keeled over in pain.

Her Soul Gem!

She had expended so much energy during this fight, and with her worsening mood, it had darkened an incredible amount. She reached for a Grief Seed, bringing it up to her Soul Gem to purify it, only to drop it from her shaking hands.

Writhing in pain, she wondered if she might be dying. She wasn’t sure what happened when a Soul Gem fully darkened.

Just when she felt she could no longer bear the pain though, it subsided. Looking over, she saw Nanoha smiling weakly, holding a Grief Seed up to Mami’s Soul Gem, before collapsing to the ground, no longer breathing. She had crawled over to Mami with just one arm and even used her own Grief Seed to purify Mami’s Soul Gem.

Mami knelt over Nanoha’s body as an “I’m so sorry,” escaped her lips.

“No, I can’t just be sorry, I need to fix this!” Mami reproached herself.

Mami held her shaky hands steady in front of Nanoha’s bruised body, using her magic to heal her wounds as fast as she could.

Nanoha’s burns, bruises, and scars slowly began to fade, all while the color returned to her cheeks. Still it wasn’t enough. Focusing her magic on her lungs, Mami continued to pour magic into Nanoha.

“Please, don’t die, I don’t want to lose someone else because of my selfishness!”

Nanoha convulsed as her breath finally returned. Her eyes fluttered open.

“Thank you,” Nanoha uttered.

Mami could barely even hear her as she continued to pour magic into healing the rest of Nanoha’s body.

“Mami, that’s enough.”

“No, it’s not enough until you’re ful-” Mami fell to the side, ready to hit the ground, only to be caught by Nanoha’s shoulder.

Nanoha winced in pain, her wounds not fully healed. But she knew it would have hurt her worse not to help Mami.

“I’m sorry for being so weak,” Mami whimpered.

“Nonsense,” Nanoha replied, “it takes a lot of strength to recognize your wrongs and want to fix them.”

Mami readjusted herself, so that her and Nanoha were supporting each other’s weight while leaning against one another, and Nanoha wouldn’t be carrying the entire burden. They sat like this for a minute, not a word between them.

Nanoha had said she wanted to talk earlier, but it was hard to find the words after all that had gone down. Mami felt like she’d lived a lifetime in these last few minutes. Thankfully, Mami decided to break the ice.

“I have no right to ask, but what did you wish for?”

Nanoha was confused by her wording. Did she mean what she wished for while fighting?

“I guess that I fight because I wished to protect that which must be protected.”

Mami stared off in the distance. “I only wished to protect myself because I was afraid to die.”

Nanoha felt saddened to hear this. How harsh must her life have been to wish just to simply live?

Nanoha pulled her head away to look Mami in the eyes.

“There’s nothing wrong with simply wishing to live.”

Mami teared up one final time, before embracing Nanoha and crying into her shoulder. Staring into her red hair, she couldn’t help but get the feeling that she should try and reconnect to an old friend.

Nanoha patted her on the back soothingly, content to have another friend to introduce Fate to when she made it back from her trial.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed this. I spent over 6 months writing this, but to be fair, only 4 of them were pure procrastination. Felt like answering a few questions preemptively here, since these fight fics can often inspire controversy.
> 
> 1\. Aren't Magical Girls fighting one another kind of lame?
> 
> Yes.
> 
> To tell the truth I actually don't care too much for Magical Girl crossovers that feature the girls fighting each other, because it's often meaningless and makes them look a bit dumb for ignoring the real villain who pitted them against one another. Tournament settings are A-OK to me, but they often lack stakes. I actually think having them hang out and do slice of life stuff or fight a new villain together would be much cooler.
> 
> 2\. Well why didn't you write that?
> 
> To tell the truth, my SoL writing isn't that good. But also, the settings of Nanoha and Madoka facilitate Magical Girl infighting more than other series. Often times the girls are made to fight one another due to conflicting motivations, and the more interesting fights have them fight one another than faceless monsters.
> 
> 3\. Why'd you wank Mami so much?
> 
> Mami has more experience than Nanoha fighting, and has defended her territory from countless Magical Girls. She's described as a prodigy that could use magic far more efficiently than your average Magical Girl, only requiring a few Grief Seeds on her person at a time.
> 
> I did not wank her. I just displayed her as the type of fighter that she naturally is. A glass cannon who uses her intelligence, varied arsenal, and natural speed to control the tempo of a fight to cause her enemies to fall into a trap of ribbons she set-up as she fought.
> 
> In a head-on struggle, of course Nanoha is going to win. I hope I made that obvious through my writing, but I think Mami's other advantages would allow her to overcome this difference in power.
> 
> Also, this is a 9 year old Nanoha after Precia's defeat. By the time of StrikerS and Detonation, all the advantages Mami had would be gone, and she probably wouldn't even be able to scratch Nanoha, let alone fight her. Hell, by A's the difference in power would probably be too extreme to overcome.
> 
> 4\. Why have Nanoha fight Mami instead of Madoka?
> 
> If those two met, I really can't conceive of any justification they'd have to fight each other outside of incredibly contrived scenarios. Meanwhile, Mami's a hurt soul that's grown to distrust other Magical Girls after a hard career as one herself. While Nanoha is someone always willing to fight anyone to help girls who obviously need support, even if they're the same person.
> 
> Also, I think it just had more potential for character insight and a (magia) clash of ideals.


End file.
